7 things to know about Mike Cavanaugh, Oregon’s newest offensive coach
The Oregon Ducks made yet another coaching hire on Thursday afternoon, this time bringing in one of the veteran-most voices that the program now has.
It was reported that Dan Lanning and the Ducks hired former Arizona State offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh to come onto the staff as an assistant OL coach and offensive analyst. Cavanaugh will work closely with A’lique Terry, who was hired by Oregon earlier this month to replace Adrian Klemm.
Cavanaugh immediately becomes one of the most well-established coaches on Oregon’s staff, with decades of experience in the college game and a long track record of sending college players off to the NFL.
After the hire was reported on Thursday, I did a deep dive into Cavanaugh to find out who exactly the Ducks were adding to the coaching staff. What I found did not disappoint.
35 Years of College Coaching Experience
It’s clear that Dan Lanning wanted to add some experience to his coaching staff, and there is no shortage of that when it comes to Mike Cavanaugh. In its entirety, Cavanaugh has coached for 35 years at the collegiate level, including 15 of those years spent at the Power 5 level.
Cavanaugh has seen stints of time at Arizona State, Syracuse, Nebraska, and Oregon State, among several others.
Spent a Decade at Oregon State
It feels pretty safe to say that Cavanaugh is familiar with the state of Oregon. From 2004-2015, he was the offensive line coach for the Beavers up in Corvallis, working under Mike Riley. The Beavers saw great offensive success while Cavanaugh was there, with Sean Mannion at QB, and several all-conference running backs, including Yvenson Bernard and Jacquizz Rodgers, who each produced three 1,000-yard seasons while Cavanaugh was on staff.
During his time in Corvallis, 23 of Cavanaugh’s players earned all-conference recognition.
2 Years of NFL Experience
Though it was short-lived, Cavanaugh spent two seasons with the San Diego Chargers as an assistant offensive line coach and quality control analyst. The Chargers did not see great success during that time, but Cavanaugh is aware of what it’s like to coach at that level.
Started Coaching the Year Dan Lanning was Born
This is a fun fact more than anything.
Mike Cavanaugh started his coaching career as a graduate assistant with Albany in 1986. Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning was born in April of 1986.
Coached Adrian Klemm at Hawaii
Another fun fact.
From 1999-2004, Cavanaugh was the offensive line coach for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, where he helped produce a top-10 offense in three of his six seasons with the team. He also coached a handful of future NFL players in Hawaii, including Adrian Klemm, who would eventually get drafted by the New England Patriots.
Coincidence? Probably not. I have a feeling that Klemm had a hand to play in Lanning and Cavanaugh teaming up after his departure.
Has sent Long List of Players to NFL
From my research, I found that Cavanaugh coached a total of nine players who went on to either get drafted or play in the NFL, though it’s entirely possible that there are more.
Samson Satele (Hawaii)
Adrian Klemm (Hawaii)
Kynan Forney (Hawaii)
Wayne Hunter (Hawaii)
Andy Levitre (Oregon State)
Isaac Seumalo (Oregon State)
Cody Conway (Syracuse)
Koda Martin (Syracuse)
Evan Adams (Syracuse)
Found Tremendous Success at Nebraska
In his three seasons at Nebraska, the Cornhuskers became known as one of the best protective units in the nation. Nebraska ranked in the top 15 in fewest sacks allowed in two of Cavanaugh’s three seasons in Lincoln. In 2016, Nebraska surrendered 15 sacks to rank first in the Big Ten, and the previous season, the Huskers gave up 14 sacks to rank second in the conference and ninth nationally
